General Knowledge Quiz Task

Students answer a true/false or multiple-choice quiz on a topic using their existing knowledge, discuss their answers in groups, then read a text to confirm — generating genuine discussion before reading.

Procedure

1. Prepare 8–10 true/false or multiple-choice questions based on a text students will read later.
2. Students answer individually.
3. Groups compare answers and debate disagreements using their general knowledge.
4. Groups share their consensus with the class; teacher does not reveal answers yet.
5. Students read the text to check their answers.
6. Debrief: which answers surprised them? What did they learn?

Variations

• Instead of a prepared quiz, ask groups to write 7 facts they are sure of about the topic, then read to confirm.
• Use multiple-choice instead of T/F — the distractors generate richer discussion.
• Use open-ended questions for more extended language production.

Tips

• Do not give away answers before reading — withholding creates curiosity.
• Choose topics students have some knowledge of but not complete knowledge.
• After reading, learners can write their own quiz to test another group (Grand Quiz).